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'Mr Gorilla' crosses marathon finish line, six days after it started

The policeman who crawled through the streets of London dressed in a gorilla suit has finally made it to the finish line.

British policeman Tom Harrison – who also goes by the name Mr Gorilla – painstaking crawled the 42km London Marathon on hand and feet in aid of The Gorilla Organization.

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Tom started the famous course on Sunday, April 22nd, and six days later, he crossed the final hurdle to rapturous applause with wounded knees and aching muscles.

Mr Gorilla has crossed the finish line of the London Marathon. Photo: AAP
Mr Gorilla has crossed the finish line of the London Marathon. Photo: AAP
Policeman Tom Harrison is crawling the London Marathon dressed in a gorilla suit. Photo: AAP
Policeman Tom Harrison is crawling the London Marathon dressed in a gorilla suit. Photo: AAP
The father-of-two is 30km into the race, five days after it started. Photo: AAP
The father-of-two is 30km into the race, five days after it started. Photo: AAP

Speaking with Be, Tom said he hoped to finish the race early Saturday morning after a map-reading incident left him crawling 200-metres in the wrong direction.

“My muscles have taken a bit of a pounding,” Tom said, just before setting out on day five of the race.

“On the first day my knees took a pounding so from then on I’ve been using my hands and feet to give my knees a rest.”

Tom ran the London Marathon last year dressed as a gorilla but after a visit to Uganda in November to see the gorillas in their natural habitat, he felt he needed to do more.

“I saw the work of The Gorilla Organization to help protect the endangered gorillas and I was completely inspired by it all and thought: ‘I’m going to have to do the marathon again for them’,” he said.

Tom crawled for eight to ten hours a day and then slept in friends' houses along the route. Photo: AAP
Tom crawled for eight to ten hours a day and then slept in friends' houses along the route. Photo: AAP
Here he is exhausted after day two of the race, which is all in aid of The Gorilla Organization. Photo: Twitter
Here he is exhausted after day two of the race, which is all in aid of The Gorilla Organization. Photo: Twitter

The father-of-two has now become an internet sensation for taking on the gruelling challenge with people giving him snacks and treats along the way to keep him going.

“During the day I’ve been grazing like a gorilla would,” Tom said.

“I’ve been snacking on sausage rolls and snack bars and then I eat some pasta at night at my friend's place. That’s my gorilla routine.”

The 41-year-old was initially campaigning to raise just under $3,000 (£1,750) for the organisation, however Tom’s fundraising page has now reached a whopping $58,035 (£33,606).

Tom has been crawling for eight-to-ten hours a day and sleeping in friends’ houses along the route to get some rest at night, before setting off again at 8am each morning.

And while many might think Tom had been going through an exhausting training schedule to get him prepped for such a task, he recently revealed that he only practiced crawling out in public twice.

“It was most unpleasant I can tell you," he wrote online of the experience so far.

"26.2 miles of crawling is going to be absolute purgatory, but, in for a penny and all that."

Taking to his fundraising page, Tom explained that he decided to don the gorilla suit because “it's not been done yet and Gorillas need our help”.

“Please donate what you can to support the Gorillas Organisation who do fantastic work to save endangered Gorillas,” he wrote.

The Metropolitan Police officer has also been giving his followers updates on his journey on both his justgiving.com fundraising page and his ‘Mr Gorilla’ Twitter account.

A weary Tom posted a picture of himself lying in the sun clearly looking exhausted after day two of the race.

The policeman has got the internet talking, with people going out on the streets to cheer him on as he makes his way by. Photo: Twitter
The policeman has got the internet talking, with people going out on the streets to cheer him on as he makes his way by. Photo: Twitter
Tom has raised a whopping $37,000 already for The Gorilla Organization. Photo: Twitter
Tom has raised a whopping $37,000 already for The Gorilla Organization. Photo: Twitter

“Tough day today but great for more people to find out about my quest and about the work of the Gorillas Organisation,” he said.

“My favourite moment was lying in the sun for a few minutes. A true Gorilla activity. None of them would be stupid enough to crawl a marathon!”

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